Improvement in cutter-fingers of harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

JOHN H. MANNY, VADDAMS GROVE, ILLlNOlS.

llVlPROVEli/lNT IN CUTTER-FINGERS OF HARVESTERS.

Specification lorniing part of Letters Patent N0. 9,675, dated April 1.9, 1853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. MANNY, of Waddams Grove, in the county of Stephenson and State ot Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Cutting Apparatus of'Machines for Mowing Grass or Grain, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which forni part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a view in perspective ot' two of the fingers of a mowing-machine attached to the linger-bar, and showing iu red lines the `serrated cutter which plays back and forth through them. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective ofthe upper side ofthe under half of the tinger detached. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the under side ofthe upper half of the finger. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the finger anda section through the finger-bar, and Fig 5 is a transverse section of the inger at the line fr ai of Fig. 4.

vlt is well known that the cutting apparatus of mowing-machines are not unfrequently rendered inoperative by the entanglement of wiregrass round the cutter, and the lodgment of it, together' with straw, grain, and grit, in the openings through the iingers which form the race or guide of the reciprocating cutter. To keep the cutter and fingers clear ot' all such impediments has long been a desideratum which it is the object of my invention to secure.

Each finger, as represented in the drawings, -consists of two distinct parts, but may be made in one piece. The lower part, A, is made the strongest and supports the upper part, B.

The finger-bar C and the front and rear extremities ot' the fingers may be made in any convenint manner, as my improvements relate to that part of the linger through which the cutter plays and those parts immediately adjacent thereto. I shall therefore confine my description principally to those points in which the improvements are made. Y

The tirst of these improvements consists in narrowing the finger just in front of the cutter-har, where the stock of the knife plays, by a recess, c, on either side. The upper corners of the recess in the lower half of the linger are1 chamfered or beveled off, as shown at d, leaving an angular ridge, c, in the middle, so that, except at the middle of the finger, any

I ber of grain, &c., that may be drawn under the knife will drop down, and at the middle it will be cut oit' by the sharp angular ridge e, and thus it will be impossible for wire-grass to accumulate, as it does in this part of ngers of other construction. 1f a recess be made in the shank ot' the linger beneath the knifestock, instead of the ridge c, and projections from the under side of the knife-stock be ar-V ranged to playthrough these recesses, the tingers will be kept clear until a roll, bunch, or quantity of the wire-grass happens to enter the recess, when the resistance of the grass to displacement or being cut will be so great as to endanger the breaking of the projections on the under side of the stock of the knife, and very often the knife itself; but hy the peculiar shape I have given this part of the nger all the advantages of a transverse groove on the top of the tinger are secured, and at the same time the entrance of rolls and the accumulation of wirc-grassis effectue-ily guarded against. rlhe under side of the shankfof the upper part, B, of the finger, immediately over the part ot' the lower iingerjust described, may be made of corresponding shape. The upper part of the linger has the general form of an open isosceles triangle with a shank,j`, projecting outward from the middle of the base, the part of the inside ofthe triangle adjacent to the apex being lilled or solid. The part of the lower halfot'the linger'corresponding tothe triangle of the upper part is also ot' triangular shape, but the triangle is more acute. Hence the sides g of the upper triangle overhang the edges li of the lower triangle, so that the grass must be inclined whenborne by the knife against the fingers, so that it will receive a double drawing cut, the slant of the knife causing the draw in one direction and the slant ot' its support against the upper and lower triangles causing the draw in the other direction, as seen by the portion of the inclined stem 'i in Fig. 5. Many other advantages result from this construction of the ingers; but it is deemed unnecessary to specify them, as they are sufficiently obvious.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Constructing the lower part of the linger, or the upper, or both, with a recess on either side in front of the linger-bar, and an angular ridge between the two recesses to cut entengled fibers, whereby the clogging of the cutting apparatus is eectually prevented, as herein described.

2. Constructing the finger so that the sides of its upper half will overhang;` those of its lower half, the cutter playing between the two, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my neme.

JOHN H. MANNY.

Witnesses PETER HANNAY, P. H. WATSON. 

